The enormous Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt, was inaugurated in 2002 near the site of the original Library of Alexandria, built by the Greeks in the 3rd century BC. The building was designed by the Norwegian firm Snøhetta, which is handling the expansion of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

The circular library of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, opened in 2005.

Photo: Junko Kimura, Getty Images

The circular library of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary...

The circular library of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary... Photo-6743194.91876 - SFGate

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Bookshelves are the building blocks for Tokyo's Musashino Art University Library (2010).

Photo: View Pictures, UIG Via Getty Images

Bookshelves are the building blocks for Tokyo's Musashino Art...

Bookshelves are the building blocks for Tokyo's Musashino Art... Photo-6743195.91876 - SFGate

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The architects of Japan's Kanazawa Umimirai Library (2011) call their building the "cake box." They told ArchDaily that they wanted to create "a single quiet and tranquil room that resembles a forest, filled with soft light and a feeling of openness reminiscent of the outdoors."

The Tripitaka Koreana collection, in South Gyeongsang province, in South Korea,
houses 80,000 woodblocks carved between 1237 and 1248. UNESCO has described the collection as one of the "most important and most complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal texts in the world."

Renovation work at the Richelieu Library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France began in 2010 and is expected to be completed in 2019.

Photo: Poulpy

Renovation work at the Richelieu Library of the Bibliothèque...

Renovation work at the Richelieu Library of the Bibliothèque... Photo-6743213.91876 - SFGate

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Designed in the mid-19th century by Henri Labrouste, the Sainte-Geneviève Library in Paris is famous for its early use of iron framing. The building inspired the design of the Boston Public Library.

Photo: Pierre Barbier, Roger Viollet/Getty Images

Designed in the mid-19th century by Henri Labrouste, the...

Designed in the mid-19th century by Henri Labrouste, the... Photo-6743215.91876 - SFGate

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Because of its shape, the Philological Library of Freie Universität Berlin has been dubbed "the Berlin Brain." Norman Foster's building opened in 2005.

Photo: Ulrich Baumgarten, Via Getty Images

Because of its shape, the Philological Library of Freie...

Because of its shape, the Philological Library of Freie... Photo-6743216.91876 - SFGate

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Brandenburg Technical University's library, in Cottbus, Germany, sets "new benchmarks for access to multimedia worlds of knowledge," said the jury that selected it as the nation's library of the year in 2006. The library's architects, Switzerland's Herzog & de Meuron, also designed the new de Young Museum in San Francisco.

The Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Center, at the Humboldt University of Berlin, opened in 2009. The library was named in honor of the Brothers Grimm, who, in addition to collecting fairy tales, worked on a monumental German dictionary that they were not able to complete.

Photo: Axel Schmidt, AFP/Getty Images

The Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Center, at the Humboldt University of...

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The Braunschweig University of Art library, in Germany, was completed in 2002.

Photo: M.Prinke

The Braunschweig University of Art library, in Germany, was...

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The cube-shaped City Library of Stuttgart, Germany, opened in 2011.

Photo: Ursula Sander, FlickrVision

The cube-shaped City Library of Stuttgart, Germany, opened in 2011.

The cube-shaped City Library of Stuttgart, Germany, opened in 2011. Photo-6743220.91876 - SFGate

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The very handsome Long Room of Trinity College's Old Library, in Dublin, Ireland, holds roughly 200,000 books.

Photo: DEA / W. Buss, De Agostini/Getty Images

The very handsome Long Room of Trinity College's Old Library, in...

The very handsome Long Room of Trinity College's Old Library,... Photo-6743221.91876 - SFGate

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The Braidense Library (1786) in Milan, Italy, was once used by the Jesuits as a study room.

Photo: Massimo Di Nonno, Getty Images

The Braidense Library (1786) in Milan, Italy, was once used by the...

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The Rijksmuseum Research Library, in Amsterdam, was established in 1885.

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The Rijksmuseum Research Library, in Amsterdam, was established in...

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Parliament proceedings are stored in the Old Library (Handelingenkamer) of the Dutch House of Representatives.

Photo: Cambyzez Nl

Parliament proceedings are stored in the Old Library...

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The ornate Joanina Library of the University of Coimbra General Library, in Portugal, was completed in 1728. Bats in the library feast on insects that would otherwise eat away at the books.

Photo: DEA / G. Dagli Orti, De Agostini/Getty Images

The ornate Joanina Library of the University of Coimbra General...

The ornate Joanina Library of the University of Coimbra General... Photo-6743226.91876 - SFGate

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Like the Biblioteca Joanina, the books of Portugal's Mafra Palace Library are protected by insect-eating bats. A papal bull from 1745 forbids anyone “in any time or in any way, to take, remove or lend from the Library without the permission of the Portuguese King, any printed books or manuscripts inhere stored." The punishment? Excommunication.

Photo: DEA / S. Vannini, De Agostini/Getty Images

Like the Biblioteca Joanina, the books of Portugal's Mafra Palace...

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The Royal Library of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, near Madrid, dates to 1592.

Photo: DEA / M. Carrieri, De Agostini/Getty Images

The Royal Library of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial,...

The Royal Library of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial,... Photo-6743228.91876 - SFGate

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The Stockholm Public Library, originally designed to have a dome, opened in 1928.

Photo: UniversalImagesGroup, UIG Via Getty Images

The Stockholm Public Library, originally designed to have a dome,...

The Stockholm Public Library, originally designed to have a dome,... Photo-6743229.91876 - SFGate

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Switzerland's Rococo Abbey Library of St. Gall is one of the world's oldest libraries, with manuscripts that date as far back as the 8th century.

Photo: DEA / S. Vannini, De Agostini/Getty Images

Switzerland's Rococo Abbey Library of St. Gall is one of the...

Switzerland's Rococo Abbey Library of St. Gall is one of the... Photo-6743230.91876 - SFGate

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The Vatican Apostolic Library, inside the Vatican Palace, dates back to the 15th century.

The majestic main reading room of the New York Public Library, opened in 1911, is roughly the length of two city blocks.

Photo: Andreas Schott, Flickr Vision

The majestic main reading room of the New York Public Library,...

The majestic main reading room of the New York Public Library,... Photo-6743239.91876 - SFGate

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The exquisite Morgan Library & Museum in New York (built between 1902 and 1906 as the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan) houses rare books and manuscripts among its holdings.

Photo: Graham Haber

The exquisite Morgan Library & Museum in New York (built between...

The exquisite Morgan Library & Museum in New York (built... Photo-6752383.91876 - SFGate

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The James B. Hunt Jr. Library, opened in 2013 at North Carolina State University, features the latest technological advances, including an automated book delivery system. The building was conceived by Snøhetta, the firm that
designed Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Photo: Jeff Goldberg/Esto

The James B. Hunt Jr. Library, opened in 2013 at North Carolina...

The James B. Hunt Jr. Library, opened in 2013 at North Carolina... Photo-6752384.91876 - SFGate

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The serene Class of 1945 Library at Phillips Exeter Academy, in Exeter, N.H., designed by Louis I. Kahn, was completed in 1971. Robert N. Shapiro, chair of the Friends of the Academy Library, described it as "a focus of the community and of the life of the mind at the school, where one may linger and ponder rather than simply absorb information."

The Seattle Public Library's Central Library opened in 2004. Writing in The New Yorker, critic Paul Goldberger called it "the most important new library to be built in a generation, and the most exhilarating."

Photo: Gabriel Bouys, AFP/Getty Images

The Seattle Public Library's Central Library opened in 2004....

The Seattle Public Library's Central Library opened in 2004.... Photo-6743244.91876 - SFGate

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The Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington in Seattle is graced with a cathedral ceiling and stained glass windows. Henry Suzzallo, the university's former president, likened universities to "cathedrals of learning."

Photo: Joe Mabel

The Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington in Seattle is...

The Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington in Seattle is... Photo-6743245.91876 - SFGate

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The largest library in the world, the Library of Congress (1800) holds more than 158 million items.

Photo: Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty Images

The largest library in the world, the Library of Congress (1800)...

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The stately National Library of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, was founded in 1808.

Photo: Christophe Simon, AFP/Getty Images

The stately National Library of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, was...

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The Real Gabinete Portugues de Lectura, in Rio de Janeiro, is seen here in a 2008 ceremony marking the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Portugal's royal family in Brazil.

Photo: Vanderlei Almeida, AFP/Getty Images

The Real Gabinete Portugues de Lectura, in Rio de Janeiro, is seen...

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